[Fwd: Re: [go-nuts] Need for official package manager]

[Bruno Medeiros]

On 22/03/2014 14:36, Russel Winder wrote:
> There has been a long running thread on the Go list about needing a
> package manager, the nay sayers claim there is need for one as Go source
> can import packages from Git (also Mercurial, and also Bazaar)
> repositories. Someone posting this about Rust just to keep the
> discussion going I think.
>
> The news does validate putting effort into Dub for D codes.
>

Very interesting stuff!

In particular, note this quote from one of the Rust guys, from the Rust 
package manager announcement:
"I'm really glad that Mozilla and the Rust team are prioritizing package 
management. An open source language ecosystem really lives or dies based 
on how easy it is to share code, and writing a world-class package 
manager (as brson put it) takes time, especially when you account for 
the inevitable and important iteration that comes from real-world usage."
It's dead right!

Contrast this the apparently pedestrian (as Andrei likes to say) 
attitude of the Go guys... Why do they reject a package manager? I can 
understand not prioritizing that task very much, but to downright say 
"there is need for one"? Even if Go source can import packages for VCSs, 
I can't say that is sophisticated enough to count as a package manager 
(no version dependencies, etc.).
There is also the problem of only allowing open-source dependencies, as 
was mentioned. But perhaps that limitation might be purposefully 
intended? If there are influential Free-Software zealots in the Go 
community (are there?), they might actively favor a "package management" 
system that prevents or discourages non-open-source software. In that 
case, there might not be lack of technical vision at play, but rather 
just a political agenda.

(Note: I'm basing this on what has been said here regarding Go... I 
haven't checked the Go discussions myself, so that's why I wonder what 
their motivation is)

-- 
Bruno Medeiros
https://twitter.com/brunodomedeiros